Holiday (and Host/ess) Gift Ideas from the Hopper

Who wouldn’t want a cheese platter this pretty at their party? Learn the tricks at The Cheese School of San Francisco. Photo via Facebook.

The simple and effective design of Aervana. Photo via Facebook.

The holidays are here, and I know you’re being hit with a million gift guides, but here are a few more ideas for what to get the food lovers in your life. We also have some past gift guides here and here that have some still very relevant and fun gift ideas.

First, of course, I am going to plug my line of tablehopper T-shirts with vintage San Francisco restaurant and bar graphics. There are five in all, whether you want to go classic with the Blue Fox or sassy with Players Club or boozy with Tippy’s (yeah, these shirts are also good for your favorite booze lovers too). They’re all printed on quality cotton shirts that have a nice fit and they’re supersoft. Tees are $25, and the Blue Fox hoodie is $45 (it’s really plush and perfect for these chillier months). You can order online.

There’s always a new wine gadget hitting the shelves, but the Aervana is pretty cool. (I tried it a couple of times and was impressed with the results—ditto my somm friend with the killer palate.) It’s a push-button aerator that is really simple (and clean!) to use, and it helps reduce tannins/improve drinkability in any wines that could benefit from some aeration. Do a taste test and you’ll see.

Olio nuovo is such a seasonal present since it’s all being released right now. I love it drizzled on soft-boiled eggs, bean soups, and bruschetta. You can stick with domestic olive oil, like vibrant McEvoy Ranch (it’s organic and available online and at the Ferry Building), or Séka Hills (it’s made in the Capay Valley by Native Americans), or Round Pond in Napa. Market Hall in Rockridge has one of the best selections of olive oil from all over, period (and you’ll note on the shelves that Italy had a much better harvest this year).

Everyone loves being treated to dinner, so why not get a gift certificate to a hot SF restaurant? The way to do it is through ShareTable.org and the SF-Marin Food Bank, because with every $50 gift certificate purchased, $5 goes to the food bank (you can thank Mission Chinese Food for spearheading this fantastic program). We’re talking about GCs to State Bird Provisions, Foreign Cinema, Nopa, and more.

While I was at the MoAD Diaspora Dinner the other night, I was thinking how cool it would be to give a museum membership to someone (here’s a link to MoAD’s). You could go classic, like the de Young/Legion of Honor, and then there’s the new SFMOMA opening in May! Give the gift of some “culchah”! Another option that’s a bit more culinary in nature would be a membership to 18 Reasons. It has a lot of perks and does a lot of good—and all memberships are $10 off until December 31st, 2015!